The invention relates to a bracing device for a bending machine, in particular for a tube bending machine, in form of a slide rail, moved linearly in slaved fashion in the bending operation, with a plurality of slide rail extensions for different bending radii.
Since in bending machines with a bracing device of the type defined at the outset, all the slide rail extensions move simultaneously, these bending machines have the disadvantage that when relatively large radii are being bent, the slide rail extension for a smaller radius can collide with tool parts, such as a clamping jaw, for the small radius if the radii differ accordingly from one another. Until now, this problem has been solved by using bracing rollers instead of slide rails. For demanding bending tasks, such as bending of very thin-walled tubes or very soft tubes or bending very small radii, however, bracing rollers are no longer suitable. Then the use of slide rails is absolutely required.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,979 discloses a bending machine with several bend dyes have different diameters and movable in a horizontal direction and in a vertical direction so as to bend a tube at different curvatures. The pressure dyes are not movable axially to the tube or parallel to the axis of the tube, and also the pressure dyes are not removably attached via a adaptors. Also, the problem of a collision of the pressure dyes with clamping jaws is not mentioned in this patent.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,130,004 discloses a tube bending machine with only one pressure dye which does not show different slide rail extensions, and therefore the problem of collision between slide rail extensions and clamping jaw or the like does not occur in this bending machine. The removable attachment of the pressure dye to the slide in this machine is not used to avoid collision between the pressure dye and clamping jaws, since at the engine of such collision does not exist.
The object of the invention is to improve a bracing device for a bending machine of the type defined at the outset in such a way that the risk of collision between slide rail extensions and tool parts is avoided.
The invention attains this stated object with a bracing device of the type defined at the outset, in that the slide rail extensions are mounted on the slide rail via lockable and unlockable adapters and the locking and unlocking of the adaptors is programmable via an MC controller. In this way, when relatively large radii are being bent, the slide rail extensions and in particular those for the small radii can preferably be decoupled from the common drive of the slide rail extensions, thus averting collision of the slide rail extensions, and especially those for the small radii, with clamping jaws or other tool parts.
With a view to comfortable machine operation, the adapters can be programmable via an NC controller or can be locked and unlocked.
To make it possible for bending machines without an adapter according to the invention to be retrofitted with an adapter, the slide rail extensions and the adapter can form a retrofitting unit.
To enable to plurality of slide rail extensions to be aligned with the height of the plurality of bending tools, the plurality of slide rail extensions and the adapter can be separately adjustable in height.
The invention also relates to a bending machine, in particular a tube bending machine, having a clamping device for a workpiece, in particular a tube to be bent, a bending head provided with a plurality of bending tools that have different radii, and a pivot arm that has a plurality of clamping jaws that can be moved horizontally and/or vertically to the longitudinal axis of the workpiece and that cooperate with the bending tools, characterized in that it has a bracing device according to the invention.
One exemplary embodiment of a bending machine embodied according to the invention will be described in further detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.
The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the present invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.